By Tamim Elyan
CAIRO: Human rights activists said that the family of Sayed Belal, a suspect in the Alexandria church attack allegedly tortured to death during investigations last Thursday, is being pressured to drop a torture case filed against state security.
“Belal’s family has been under pressure from security organizations to give up the case or deny torture accusations,” Hafez Abu Saeda, head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), told Daily News Egypt.
“We have sent a team of lawyers to Alexandria to investigate and provide assistance to his family in the case they filed against state security officials,” he added.
Belal’s body was transferred on Sunday to the coroner for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. A report will then be presented to the prosecution.
Investigations into the case were transferred from Al-Laban prosecution office, where it was filed, to Western Alexandria prosecution by the city’s attorney general, Yasser Al-Refa’i. State security’s Alexandria administrator refused to be interrogated in the case.
Khaled Al-Sherif, Belal’s brother-in-law and lawyer, could not be reached for comment.
According to press reports, Belal was interrogated on Tuesday night by Alexandria’s state security and returned home. On Wednesday, state security arrested Belal and searched his apartment in Al-Raml district.
On Thursday, his family received a call from Zeqelah hospital requesting them to retrieve Belal’s body, on which signs of torture were apparent. The family then filed a case against state security accusing them of torturing Belal to death.
“We received information that the burial procedures were manipulated,” Abu Saeda said.
According to reports, Belal’s family was warned to burry the body late on Thursday silently or else it will be buried in “charity cemeteries” and its whereabouts unknown.
Belal’s face was badly bruised, as were his hands and waist, according to the prosecution report.
“We received information late Saturday that Belal was tortured at the old headquarters of Alexandria’s security directorate by a team of state security officers from Cairo,” Ayman Nour, head of Al-Ghad Party told Daily News Egypt.
“There must be punishment to this security foolishness and those who committed this crime must be brought to justice,” he said.
Belal, 31, was a worker at soldering workshop and a former employee at a petroleum company until he was arrested in 2006 for unclear reasons. He used to be a member of Salafi groups and is married with a one-year-old child.
Abu Saeda said that similar torture cases are becoming frequent even though it is now considered an international crime. “We demand serious investigations in the case or else we will file a complaint to the International Criminal Court,” he said.
A number of human rights organizations have voiced condemnation of Belal’s death, citing the increase of similar torture cases.
